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With thankfulness to God for His faithfulness, we are pleased to announce that the following two believers, both of whom were imprisoned for their faith in Iran, have been released during recent days:

Churches and nonprofit organizations in Nicaragua have been encountering increasing harassment from the government under the leadership of President Daniel Ortega. In recent years, dozens of religious leaders were arrested or expelled from the country and hundreds of organizations have been shut down.

In 2023, Reverend Dr. Hkalam Samson was sentenced to six years in prison under the country's anti-terrorism laws. See this page for an earlier report on the charges against this prominent Christian leader.Although Dr. Samson was released under a general amnesty on April 17th of this year, later that evening, the authorities came to his home and detained him again, allegedly for questioning.

Christian convert Esmaeil Narimanpour was detained at his home on Christmas Eve in 2023. When his family members attempted to inquire about his situation, they were subjected to interrogation by security forces for several hours. For more details on this incident, go to this page.

On March 19th, authorities released Pastor Geng Zejun after he served 15 months in prison. His wife and son, along with several others – both Christians and non-Christians – brought flowers to the detention centre to joyfully celebrate his release. A video of the reunion can be viewed on YouTube.

In July 2015, Hu Shigen was taken into custody and accused of inciting "subversion of state power." Convicted the following year, he was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years' imprisonment. While in prison, Elder Hu suffered a heart attack in 2019, and his family was assured by officials that he would be released due to the seriousness of his condition. However, despite this promise, the elderly Christian leader continued to be held in custody. (Review this previously posted report.) With thanksgiving, we are pleased to report that Elder Hu was finally released after serving a lengthy sentence and had returned home on March 26th.

After serving 15 years in prison, Alimujiang Yimiti has finally been released. While other details relating to his release are unconfirmed, the house church pastor, also known as Alim, is now home with his family. Ethnically, this faithful Christian leader happens to be of the Uyghur (Turkic) minority group, which is also experiencing severe human rights abuses in China.

In June 2022, Lin Xuesui was arrested by China's Public Security Bureau and accused of "organizing and financing illegal gatherings." These accusations resulted from his ministry work in a remote region located approximately 2,000 kilometres from his home, where he shared his Christian testimony with local villagers. (A previous report on Lin's arrest is available here.)

With thanksgiving, Bob Fu from ChinaAid reported on social media that Wang Minghai and Wan Hongxia were released from prison on January 13th. The two Christians had been detained since their arrests in August 2021. They were charged with conducting "illegal business operations" due to their involvement with a private Christian school. (A previous report on the situation can be reviewed here.)

The previous month, a report from the Persecution & Prayer Alert addressed concerns over the ongoing harassment experienced by churches in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. It was reported that the leader of the Kurchatov Church in Mariupol, together with his wife, had been abducted by Russian soldiers. At that time, their location was unknown. (For more information, see this page.)